Month: September 2010

nHello All, nAs we do every Fall, we would like to acquaint you with some changes you may notice as we move forward into the new season.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

A Big Thank You!

nTo everyone who helped with our August cleanup and painting. The space looks great, we hope you agree!

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

New Classes & Programs

nWe would like to welcome faculty member Jeffrey Dreisbach, set to teach the brand new VoiceOverWorkshop. Jeffrey comes to us from Pat McCorkle casting and has worked as a Voice Over artist, actor and teacher for over 20 years.nn*Keep a Look Out for the Return of Page’s Shakespeare Workshop and Sam Christensen’s Image Intensive – both coming up on October 15th, 2010*nnWe are proud to announce our Summer New Works Project. This project engages voices of contemporary playwrights and it offers further performance opportunities for all of you! Our inaugural season featured a workshop of Jim Shankman’s Alien Child. We are looking for new works for next summer, so please tell us if you know of any.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

Fee ChangesnnEffective October 2010, the annual increase for On-Going monthly classes will be $15 per month. Terry’s classes will remain at $300 per month and all other instructors will increase to $295 per month. Each year, we attempt to make sure the classes are priced in a fair and reasonable way. We know that this continues to be a difficult time economically for everyone, and we have attempted to make this year’s increase as small as possible.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

New Theater Season

nSome wonderful new shows are upon us! As you may have seen, building has begun on the set for our first production, Lanford Wilson’sBalm in Gilead.Directed by Peter Jensen, B.I.G. will be performed by a cast of 28 T. Schreiber actors!nnFor the season’s second production, we are honored to present David Storey’s The Changing Room about the tribulations of an English men’s rugby team. Terry will be holding auditions in December for the 22 character cast.nnThe season will come to a close with George Bernard Shaw’s You Never Can Tell, “a splendid confection of frothy wit and delicious absurdity” directed by Robert Verlaque.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

For Further Information, Please Call:n(212) 741-0209n

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

Stay in Touch!nnnnBe sure to follow us on Twitter (TSStudio) and Friend us on Facebook (T. Schreiber Studio) to stay current on T.Schreiber news all year round.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

Please be sure to share your latest projects with us! Drop us a line at info@www.tschreiber.org to be included in the Look Who’s Working section of our NEW website, www.tschreiber.org

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

n

New Faces

n

You may have noticed some new faces in the office. They are Amanda and Joanna and they’d be happy to get to know you. Stop by any time.

n

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

Alumni Night

nHave you done a play with us? We are planning an Alumni Night for cast and crew members of previous shows. Shoot us an email at theatre@www.tschreiber.org with the name of the show you worked on and we will send you info.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

nn

n
n

n

n

More News!

nTerry has been selected to represent the New York theatre community at the International Forum on Cultural Heritage and Landscape in Florence, Italy in November. Terry will be speaking about the influence of theatre on the culture of New York City, and the necessity for theatre in metropolitan communities.

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

n

n

n

n

n
n

n

Box Office!nnFor the first time, as a T. Schreiber actor you can purchase play tickets at the office. Tickets for you will be only $15 each for October 14th-October 31st. Please note that we only accepting cash payments at this time. Tickets for Balm In Gilead are now on sale. Box Office Hours: Mon-Fri 12-4PMnnnShow dates are October14 November 21st; Thurs-Sat@8pm, Sun@3pm

Have you done a play with us?nn…well we want you back! nnFor the first time EVER we are hosting an Alumni Night. Friday, October 29th we invite you to join us to see our first show of the season BALM IN GILEAD.nnEnjoy Balm, visit with old friends, and stick around after the show for mixing and mingling at Mustang Sally’s.nnUse the code TSSA to receive your 25% discount off the regular $20 ticket price. This offer can only be used on reservations made by phonen(212) 352-3101 or ONLINEnnnThe evening will continue for alumni in attendance at Mustang Sally’sn(324 seventh avenue- between 28th and 29th Streets). Please join us! And if you can’t make the show please consider joining us for a drink!

Incubator of Creativity:

n

Reviving Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead at NY’s T. Schreiber Studio

n

by Erica Lauren McLaughlin

nWhen I first accepted the role of Bonnie in Balm in Gilead, I thought “this will be a breeze”. I should have known then I would be in big, big trouble. As an actress who had taken classes previously with our director Peter Jensen, I knew first hand that a role is never as simple as it seems on the page, and that there would surely be work to be done. Even with that knowledge, I had no idea just how challenging it’d be performing Balm in Gilead: Lanford Wilson’s intricate blues symphony about New York’s lower depths.nnBalm in Gilead is a 29 character play, (down from the original draft by the playwright which featured over 50) featuring overlapping scenes and dialogue, and a famous monologue which lasts for the majority of the second act. Most of the characters are on stage all the time: living, conversing, doing drugs, rambling on to themselves, singing, prostituting, you name it–even when they don’t have written dialogue. This results in an underscoring cacophony of sound unlike what you hear when walking down any street in Manhattan, and as the playwright notes in the play, “when it gets quiet… you almost think something is gonna happen”. As an actor, this requires you put some of your best acting training to use: relaxation, imagination, improvisation, character development, among other skills; and the play highlights one particularly important skill—listening.nnWhich is undoubtedly what Lanford Wilson did when writing the play, he listened. In a 2001 interview he says, “I found that the quality of my work improved immensely in New York because I was in this incubator of creativity.” Balm in Gilead seems to be a direct reflection of this, a young ambitious playwright; all at once consuming the sea of voices that surrounding him rather than to be consumed by them. It is not unlike how I often feel as an actress in the city, or more specifically as an actress studying at T. Schreiber Studio, performing in Balm in Gilead. I am constantly surrounded by a diverse group of multi-talented people, and in a nurturing artistic environment, rather than be intimidated, I am able to become inspired by and ride the wave of their creativity. Lanford Wilson listened to the rhythms of the city and responded with his pen. On stage in Balm, we listen to the melody of the script and respond through his exacting dialogue.nnSpeaking of exacting, the production is in the capable hands of Peter Jensen, whose last year production of Wilson’s Fifth of July gained critical acclaim and the seal of approval of the playwright himself, who visited with the cast at T. Schreiber Studio. Peter’s character exercises, place specificity, research, and commitment to attempt (at least once) the script exactly the way it was intended makes him a perfect companion to Balm in Gilead. Much of the work on the play is like figuring out a Rubix cube: rearranging the various interlocking colors until they all fit together in harmony. As an actor, this means doing your best research: Who exactly am I talking to? Where am I coming from? What do I really want in this moment? In Balm, the lines simply serve as clues. We are lucky to have Peter who guides this work and ensures it is done meticulously for every role.nnThe result of all of this is that the entire Gloria Maddox Theater at T. Schreiber Studio is transformed into a buzzing, bustling, café like the ones our playwright encountered upon arriving to New York City. The production becomes homage to the then avant-garde productions of Lanford Wilson at the beginning of the Off-Off Broadway movement. To me, after seeing most of last season’s plays on Broadway, this play, 45 years later, still feels revolutionary. The attempt at a new naturalism in his writing is far more experimental than that of say, David Mamet, who has been produced on Broadway constantly in the last few seasons. Which is not to say the two writers should even be compared similarly. With a Broadway revival of Talley’s Folly scheduled for next season, Lanford Wilson will return to the commercial world of Broadway. But in the right hands (hopefully ours are capable enough to fit the bill), his work seems to thrive best in that incubator of creativity that is Off-Off Broadway. I feel privileged to be a part of it, and can’t wait to share it with our audience.